Barnstable's departing interim school superintendent, Tom McDonald, is one of three finalists for the superintendency of the East Providence, R.I. schools.

"I'm not ready to retire," the 58-year-old educator said earlier this week. "I want to try to re-invent a school system, make it less dependent on taxpayers."

The news came as a surprise to those who have heard McDonald express relief that Barnstable has hired a new superintendent, Dr. Patricia Grenier.

"People say, 'Don't you want to smell the roses?' I still want to plant a few," McDonald said.

Under the early retirement rules of Massachusetts, McDonald will be prohibited from working more than 960 hours a year in the state's public education system. That made consideration of a job over the border intriguing.

The New England School Development Council consultants who worked with the Barnstable superintendent search committee told McDonald about the job in Rhode Island, and he sent his CV along. A search committee chaired by East Providence's retiring superintendent, Manuel F. Vinhateiro, reduced a list of 15 candidates to six for interviews and selection of the final trio.

McDonald's competition includes the district's own assistant superintendent, Dr. Jacqueline Forbes of Barrington, R.I. and Dr. Gene Chasin of Storrs, Conn., director of the Accelerated Schools Project at the University of Connecticut.

"He was articulate, well informed, and had lots of hands-on experience as a teacher and administrator and superintendent," Vinhateiro said of McDonald. "Those types of experience make candidates attractive."

Vinhateiro is leaving the East Providence system after 36 years, while McDonald is leaving Barnstable after 33. There are other parallels as well.

The enrollment in East Providence is around 6,000, like Barnstable's. There are 2,000 students in the high school (sound familiar?), two middle schools, and seven elementary schools plus a preschool. The population is around 50,000, just like Barnstable's.

East Providence has a city manager and a town council. The council elects one of its members as a ceremonial mayor. A five-member school committee oversees the system; chairman Antone Gouveia did not return a call for comment by press time.

Barnstable School Committee Chairman Ralph Cahoon could not be reached for comment as well.

Next up is a site visit to East Providence and a return site visit by the Rhode Island officials to Barnstable. Final interviews will be conducted in open session by the school committee.

"I have not made my final decision," McDonald said. "There has to be a fit."

There is one difference between McDonald's and Vinhateiro's situations.